Eastern Sabah Security Zone curfew extended to April 4

KOTA KINABALU: The curfew in the waters off seven districts in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) which was supposed to end tomorrow has been extended to April 4, Sabah police commissioner Ramli Din said today.

He said with the extension those living in the affected areas are requested to stay in their houses and banned from entering the waters from 6pm to 6am.

“The curfew involves the districts of Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran,” he said in a statement.

Ramli said the curfew had to be extended to ensure the waters were not being encroached by terrorists for the safety of international researchers conducting research and tourists visiting the island resorts.

Based on information received, he said, the Abu Sayyaf terrorists and other criminal elements from southern Philippines were still trying to carry out kidnapping for ransom and committing transborder crimes.

Ramli said the curfew was also imposed to facilitate enforcement and monitoring of boat movements so that chalet owners and fishermen felt secure and confident with the presence of security personnel in the vicinity.

“I have also given the district police chiefs in the ESSZone, the authority to issue permits to allow those who qualify to conduct fishing activities or travel within the curfew areas,” he said.

Comments

Readers are required to have a valid Facebook account to comment on this story. We welcome your opinions to allow a healthy debate. We want our readers to be responsible while commenting and to consider how their views could be received by others. Please be polite and do not use swear words or crude or sexual language or defamatory words. FMT also holds the right to remove comments that violate the letter or spirit of the general commenting rules.

The views expressed in the contents are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMT.